Salinas Mayor Kimbley Craig is not running for re-election. Three men are competing to take her place: a former mayor, the president of Salinas’ chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, and a current Monterey County planning commissioner.
Local government in Salinas has been somewhat contentious in recent months—something Mayor Craig said in May contributed to her decision not to run again.
The Monterey County Weekly has reported on local politics in Salinas, including the upcoming election for mayor and four city council seats. Editor Sara Rubin spoke with KAZU’s Amy Mayer about the city’s elections.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
Amy Mayer, KAZU: Let’s start with what city politics have been like lately in Salinas.
Sara Rubin, Monterey County Weekly: We have done pretty extensive coverage of Salinas City Council, both the current council—its composition and some disagreements and significant votes they've had—and also a lot of contentious races upcoming this November. There are 14 candidates in total running for five open seats this Nov. 5th. So there's just a lot going on.
AM: Having a lot of candidates for seats feels like a good thing. We have many races in the county, and in the area, that are uncontested for various local positions. Obviously, this is a pretty big city, especially in this region. Are there particular ways that you think this mayoral race, or these city council races, are… I don't know if contentious, or prickly, is the right word… more so than you've seen in other recent years?
SR: First, I would agree with you that, yes, unambiguously, it's a good thing to see a lot of engagement and a lot of people running. I think that's great for the public. And there's a lot of interest. And I would also agree that, yes, this is a particularly contentious election year for Salinas City Council. And it's not quite so simple across the board, but, you can see in the current council, generally, there are two defined factions. And I think you also see that reflected among the candidates who are running for office—some of whom are incumbents seeking reelection— that there are two defined factions. I think that's part of what both Mayor Kimbley Craig and former city council member Steve McShane, who resigned midterm, would tell you is part of their underlying motivation to leave public office at this time. And, not just in their view that there's a faction, but that it has become really contentious and, to use some of their words, dysfunctional and toxic. ‘Disrespectful’ is part of what Mayor Craig said upon her announcement when she said she would not seek reelection to a third term.
AM: So, given that sentiment on the council, we have these three people who are running for mayor. Why don't we do a quick little profile of them. Can you tell us about Dennis Donahue?
SR: Dennis is a former Salinas mayor who held that position from 2006 to 2012, and he currently runs the Western Growers Association ag tech innovation center in Salinas. And he is very enthusiastic about ag tech and economic development more generally for Salinas. And he is pitching himself to voters as the candidate who has the right kinds of relationships to help expand economic opportunity in Salinas, not just in ag tech, but other realms as well.
AM: Chris Barrera is a real estate agent in town, and he's the League of United Latin American Citizens chapter president. He also came in second for mayor when he ran against Craig in 2020.
SR: It's interesting to note that Chris Barrera, Ernesto Gonzalez and Kimbley Craig all ran against each other in 2020 when there was an open seat after former Mayor Joe Gunter died. And Chris Barrera was about 1,500 votes behind Kimbley Craig in 2020. And he is very active in Salinas politics. He serves on the Measure G oversight committee, and he's been really outspoken in his views of what council has gotten right, what council’s gotten wrong. He's pitching himself as a champion for civil rights and lifting up working-class people.
AM: You mentioned Ernesto Gonzalez García. He came in third behind Craig and Barrera four years ago. He has an interesting story. He's currently serving as a Monterey County planning commissioner. But he was a schoolteacher. He became a principal. What else can you say about him?
SR: Ernesto Gonzalez García is also very engaged in the community and politically active. He has a particular interest in campaign finance reform. So he is doing no campaign fundraising because he says he believes that it's a negative influence in politics and he'd like to just remove it. So he's walking that talk. And it's particularly interesting because there is a lot of money in these Salinas City Council races, and the mayor's race, this year.
On my last count, more than $600,000 had flowed into all of these open seats, and it's flowing primarily into a slate of business-backed candidates. That includes Dennis Donohue for mayor, who has out-fundraised his competitors quite significantly.
Read the Monterey County Weekly editorial board’s endorsements for Salinas mayor and other races on the Central Coast here.
